What a card: Floyd Rayford hit .256 in 86 games in his return to the Orioles in 1984. He was dealt from the Orioles to the Cardinals in June of 1983 and then reacquired by the Orioles in March of 1984.
My observation on the front: Rayford appears saddened by what he just did with that bat.
More opinion from me: Since my brother was/is an Orioles fan, we knew about Rayford probably long before he made it to the majors because of the Baltimore yearbooks that my brother had accumulated. I think we saw the stats for Rayford and never figured him to make the majors, only to be unexpectedly delighted when he first appeared on a card in 1983.
Something you might know: Rayford was a lovable utility player, mostly for the Orioles, during the mid-1980s. His nickname was "Sugar Bear," because some thought he resembled this famous cereal box character (baseball-reference claims his nickname was "Honey Bear", and one website I came across said his nickname was "Huggy Bear", which was a Starsky and Hutch character).
Something you might not know: Rayford said his 1985 season, in which he hit 18 home runs and batted .306, was spurred on by a divorce. "Alimony can be a tremendous motivator," he said a few years ago.
My observation on the back: It looks like Topps didn't let the ink dry on the trivia question. It's supposed to read, "Which player played the most years in the majors before making the World Series?"
The blog wants to speak now: The TV category is updated.
I don't know what a sugar hug is but "Sugar Huggy Bear" sounds wrong. Very very wrong.
ReplyDelete"Sugar Bear" was long-time hitting coach for the New Britain Rock cats here in Connecticut. Quite a character. That divorce quote is classic Rayford. he probably gave me crap when I asked him to sign this card because he always gave me crap when I asked him to sign -- but he signed plenty for me over the years. He's missed in New Britain.
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